


It's You

by Wild_Roses



Category: What If It's Us - Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, M/M, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-19
Updated: 2019-07-19
Packaged: 2020-07-08 20:28:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19875616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wild_Roses/pseuds/Wild_Roses
Summary: Two years after their summer together, Ben and Arthur reunite. Takes place a few months after the epilogue.





	It's You

**Author's Note:**

> I loved What If It's Us and its imperfect, open ending. But I was so taken with it I had to imagine and write up a future reunion. Hope you enjoy :)

Ben

“The problem is that nobody is willing to try,” Arthur looks at me beseechingly through my phone screen. “Like when you and I were together, we had problems, sure but we talked them through.”

He’s just broken up with his first official boyfriend since me. A guy named Niles- such a pretentious name. _Niles_ who is in pre-law at Wesleyan. They’d lasted three months. I feel a little bitter about how that was a month longer than I had with Arthur.

“I’m going to come see you,” I decide.

Arthur keeps listing every problem we encountered during our time-limited relationship. “I mean, that was almost two years ago. We were babies. _Babies_. And we had better relational skills than all of these guys who are allowed to vote and join the military and wave guns at people! Wait- what did you say?”

I repeat myself. Arthur blinks his brilliant eyes a few times before he says regretfully, “Ben, you can’t-”

“Yes, I can,” I interrupt. My phone is propped up on my laptop so he can see my face without me having to hold it. “It’s reading week starting tomorrow. And I’m looking at bus prices right now.” Arthur opens his mouth like he is about to protest but I shut him down. “Seriously. I can afford it. I’ve been working extra shifts and saving like Scrooge. As long as I can bunk on your couch or whatever.”

He dwells on this for a moment. “Me and Cam did get an upgraded dorm this year, we’ve got our own bedrooms and a little living room. Couch smells bad, though. I’d have to smuggle you in, it's not _really_ allowed”

“I miss you,” I say softly.

We face-time a minimum of once a week and we text every single day, but I swear I miss his _essence_.

“Don’t you have to work?”

This, to be honest, was not a thing I even considered as I imagined being in Connecticut with Arthur. And all the amazing moments we would share. Sam had gotten me a job at Kool Koffee, of which Dylan mildly disapproved.

“I actually only have two shifts... I’m sure I can get them covered. More of an issue would be that I have a pretty major writing assignment due. But we could do homework together?”

I’m so filled up with hope that I think I might float up to the ceiling. I can see that Arthur is getting excited too, so I make my final move. “I only have one lecture tomorrow and it’s at done at noon. I could catch the two o’clock bus and be there in under three hours. By five o’clock, Arthur.”

“Okay,” he beams at me. “Come, come! I’ll smuggle you in.”

I fish my wallet out of my pocket and go through the steps to buy my ticket. “Ticket...” I drag the word out as my purchase processes, “bought!”

Arthur squeals a little. It should be ridiculous, but I love it.

***

Arthur

I cannot believe that Ben is going to be here any minute. Bouncing on the balls of my feet, I peer down the road. It is a pretty chilly February day, probably too chilly to be waiting outside at the bus drop-off spot. But I’ve got a thermos of hot chocolate and an enthusiastic hug to share shortly, so I don’t care.

Ben did not make it clear if this trip means he thinks we could go back to being something more than friends. But I sure hope so. I get why he didn’t want to try long distance. I do. He didn’t want us to go up in flames and lose our friendship. He needed some more time to recover from Hudson, and summer school, and learn to believe in himself. He was right that I should not have chosen my university just to be near him. He was probably right that I needed some time to see what dating was like. The thing is, though, dating sucks. I hate it. I am way more of a long-term relationship type guy. Niles wasn’t. And, if I’m being really honest, I’m a _Ben_ type of guy.

The bus pulls up and creaks loudly it lowers to the curb and the door opens. A couple of people I pay no attention to filter out, and then- Ben. He’s got a duffle slung over his shoulder and he looks nervous. I’ve missed every one of his freaking freckles. He heads my way and I close the last few steps, flinging my arms around his neck. I’m on tiptoes to reach. He hugs me tightly and breathes deeply.

I pull away after what is probably too much time and whisper conspiratorially, “Ready to be smuggled?”

“Yes,” he replies brightly. It might just be in my mind, but I think he seems a little relieved at his reception.

“It’s a pretty far walk,” I inform him. “Campus is big.”

“No worries, I’m tired of sitting.”

I offer to help him with his bag, and he laughs at me. Instead of giving me the duffle, he slips his warm fingers through my cold ones and squeezes. My heart leaps. I can tell you- I haven’t ever reacted to any of the other guys I’ve dated like I react to Ben. He might just mean for it to be casual, I have to remind myself.

“Your hands are freezing,” he comments looking down at me. “How long have you been out here waiting for me?”

“Half an hour. I wanted to be here if the bus arrived early. I’ve got hot chocolate! In this thermos,” I wave it at him. And anyways, I forgot all about the cold the moment I saw him.

“Do we have to stop walking so you can pour it into little thermos-cups?”

Scrunching my nose, I reply, “Well, yeah. Oh! I know, there’s a spot I’ll take you to. And you’re probably starving too, sorry I didn’t even think about that. We can pick up something”

We get some deli sandwiches to go from a popular place on campus and head to my spot. It’s my favorite place to study in the fall, a little secluded grove of trees scattered with benches. Ben lets go of my hand, so I plop down on to my preferred bench and set about pouring our hot chocolate.

“You’re sweet,” Ben says as he accepts his little red cup. We scoot a little closer to share our warmth. I’m sure I see it in his eyes. This is the beginning of something more. We’re ready.

***

Ben

Folded blankets and a proper pillow are set neatly on the couch. The space around me is small, but tidy. There’s the couch, a coffee table, a tv on a dresser and a small kitchen table with three mismatched chairs. It's more like my parent’s home than Arthur’s. His roommate Cam introduces himself and then apologizes for rushing out to meet his girlfriend, leaving us alone. Looking bashful, Arthur shows me his room. Fairy lights dangle from the ceiling and the walls are plastered with posters of Broadway shows and photos of him with friends. I smile when I see that the photo of us from his birthday is hanging on the wall his bed is pressed up against, just above where his head would lay. A place of honor.

“So...”

“I like it,” I grin at him. “It’s very Arthur.”

He shrugs. “I try to make it feel like home.”

We head back out and sit at the little kitchen table. Arthur pours us more hot chocolate and pulls out a box of cookies. He puts on a playlist of random Broadway songs at a quiet volume to kill the awkward silence that’s swelling up and threatening to drown us.

The confidence and spontaneity that I was filled with yesterday has evaporated. It has been two years. _Two years._ I don’t know what I was thinking. That Arthur would still be as hung up on me as I am on him? That I’d better capitalize on the window of his breakup before he finds another boyfriend? He’s far outstripped me on the kissing experience at this point. And I don’t know for sure about any of the other guys he was seeing, but he definitely slept with Niles.

I haven’t booked a return ticket yet. So, at least, if this is a total disaster, I don’t have to make it through the entire reading week.

“You ok, Ben?” Arthur’s brows are furrowed with concern. He looks so handsome and intellectual with his glasses on, in his college dorm, I can barely stand it.

“Uh...” My leg is bouncing a mile a minute. I could probably run a marathon just like my old summer school teacher right now. I’m avoiding eye contact with him. “To be honest with you, I’m kinda freaking out right now.”

In the corner of my vision, I can see his tongue flick across his lower lip. He reaches out and rests a hand on my forearm. The room is spinning.

“Do you remember when we _almost_ went all the way?” he asks.

“Of course.”

“And I was kinda but really actually totally freaking the fuck out?”

“Yes.”

He gives my arm a gentle squeeze, “And you were amazing and supportive and generally the wonderful man you are?”

I swallow the part of my stomach that’s moved into my throat.

“Do you think I could be that for you right now?” he asks.

I meet his eyes and blurt out, “I’m still in love with you.” He smiles, but there’s something cautious about it, so I add, “Not like I love you like I love Dylan. I am _in_ love with you.”

Arthur launches himself across the table, grabs my face, and smashes his lips against mine. It actually hurts a little when our teeth knock together, but I’m too happy to care.

***

Arthur

“Ben, where are you going?” I mumble sleepily.

He shrugs, standing next to the bed, “To the couch. I don’t want to take up your limited bed space. Or presume anything.”

I hope the dead-eyed look I give fully communicates my exasperation. That is so very Ben. To confess his love, let me lead him into bed, and _then_ try to slip quietly away to the damned couch. I reach out to grab the waistband of his boxers and tug until he sits back on the bed. Then I wrap my arms around his waist until he lays back down and lets me hold him.

“Did you miss the _I love you too, Ben Alejo_?” I ask. “You’re not sleeping anywhere but next to me this week. _Especially_ not on our first night reunited.”

In the fairy lights he is glowing. It feels like the Universe has finally and totally aligned.

“We- we haven’t really talked about what this means,” he says hesitantly.

I hold his face in my hands, so he has to meet my eyes. “Listen,” I say. “I agreed to break up because you were right about me not choosing a school just for you. And I tried dating other people, because that’s what I was supposed to do. But Ben, it’s you. It has been you- highs and lows and distance-since I saw the look on your face after those romper-wearing-dino-porn-writing twins walked past us. Since I heard your beautiful laugh.”

He’s looking a little teary, which honestly? Makes me a little proud of myself, because normally I’m the one falling to soggy pieces.

“It’s just a less-than-three-hours bus ride,” I assert, “and I don’t want to be without you again. I certainly don’t want to ever suffer through another date that’s not with you again.”

He laughs and his lips are still curled up in a smile when he presses them to my own.

“Don’t lie,” he says, “you suffered through a lot of our dates. We had _four_ do-overs.”

“I didn’t say I didn’t suffer through them! I only said I don’t want to suffer through any future dates with anybody that’s not you. That photobooth strip is hanging up over there, by the way,” I point to the cluttered wall opposite the bed.

“What? That one's not good enough to get the place of honor like the birthday shot?”

I shrug, “It made me kinda sad to look at those ones. From that first date, when we were struggling so much to be on the same page.” Ben nods, looking thoughtful. “Are we on the same page now, Ben?”

He looks at me and nods again, much more firmly this time. “I’m ready to give this my all.”

We’re pretty wrapped up in kissing when I hear someone say “hey.” I pull back a little and tilt my ear up to try and hear better. I could’ve sworn that Cam wasn’t coming back to the dorm tonight. It sounded again.

“Is- is that Dylan?” I ask, completely baffled.

Ben hides his face in his hands. From between his fingers he says, “it’s the text-tone for Dylan, yeah.”

I burst into laughter. “That is so creepy. And also, really characterizes your friendship.”

Rolling over, Ben reaches for his jeans and fishes his phone out of the pocket. He reads the messages and then shoots me a wry look. “They had a bet.”

“Him and Sam?”

“Yes- they both bet we would get back together. But Dylan bet it would happen within the first few hours, and Sam thought we’d dance around it all week. He is dying to be validated right now.”

“What’s he win?”

“Well if he lost, he was supposed to order a shipment of Kool Koffee to their apartment and drink nothing else for a month, so honestly I think he wanted to not-lose more than he wanted to _win_ per se. But his prize is full control over what take-out they get for the month.”

I chuckle. “Go on then, put him out of his misery. The tension must be killing them. It nearly killed me.”

Ben grins and types for a second before tossing his phone on the nightstand and turning back to me. I stick my hand up to intercept his lips.

“Wait up, did you turn that ringtone off?”

“Whoops,” Ben grabs his phone, flicks the button to silent and this time, when he throws it to the nightstand, he misses entirely. He ignores that and when he turns back to me, he runs his hand through my hair. “Te amo, Arthur. It’s you, for me too. Us.”

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't have access to a copy when I wrote this, so if there's any timeline or other errors, my apologies.


End file.
